James Martin Simon

Specialist Four
D CO, 4TH BN, 3RD INF RGT, 11 INF BDE
Army of the United States
30 December 1950 - 16 February 1971
West Louisville, Kentucky
Panel 05W Line 112

AMERICAL DIV 3RD INF RGT
Combat Infantry

Purple Heart, National Defense, Vietnam Service, Vietnam Campaign 		James M. Simon

The database page for James Martin Simon

3 Mar 2001

REMEMBERED BY HIS FRIENDS AND FAMILY

Spec. 4 James Martin Simon was "a kind and gentle person."

And he loved banana pudding.

Katherine Simon, one of Simon's 11 brothers and sisters, says, "Jimmy had an easy-going personality. He was always laughing."

Simon enjoyed listening to comedy records, especially the Smothers Brothers and Bill Cosby, she says. He volunteered as the boys' basketball coach at St. Alphonsus School in St. Joseph.

And he loved life.

Simon was 20 when a bullet found him in Quang Tri province, two days after Valentine's Day in 1971.

His would be the final flag-draped casket coming home to Daviess County from the war in Vietnam -- the 76th from the Owensboro area.

25 April 1999

Jimmy Simon was a 14-year-old kid, playing ball and doing the things kids do, in April 1965, when Frankie Millay's flag-draped casket came home from Vietnam.

Millay was the first Daviess County man to die in the war in southeast Asia.

But there was a light at the end of the tunnel, the president said.

It would be over soon.

But the parade of caskets -- 76 in all, across a seven-county area around Owensboro -- would continue for 2,136 days.

And finally, on Feb. 16, 1971, the war would claim 20-year-old Jimmy Simon, the last area man to fall in Vietnam.

Both from the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer

I would like to hear from people who knew James M. Simon.
From his sister.
E-mail address is not available.

A Note from The Virtual Wall

"As D Company, 4/3rd Infantry, were preparing to move from their night defensive position on the morning of 16 Feb 1971 they were engaged with small arms fire by an estimated 15 NVA troops. D/4-3 returned organic weapons fire and later employed artillery fire. There were 3x US KIA and 1x US WIA. The enemy element was last seen heading W, there were 3x NVA KIA."
From the After Action Report

The three Americans who died in the action were

  • SFC James H. Stafford, Oakland, CA;
  • SP4 James M. Simon, West Louisville, KY; and
  • PFC James B. Carter, Orlando, FL.




Top of Page

Virtual Wall icon
www.VirtualWall.org

Back to
To alpha index S
KY State Index . Panel 05W
3RD INF RGT Index

Contact Us


With all respect
Jim Schueckler, former CW2, US Army
Ken Davis, Commander, United States Navy (Ret)
Last updated 08/10/2009